Fancy meeting you here
by valkyrieschains
Summary: Cena/OC. John keeps running into the same girl, who doesn't seem to be in the least interested or impressed-even though she knows exactly who's flirting with her. He's not usually the pursuer, and he's intrigued by the one who only seems to pay attention when he flexes his mind instead of his biceps. M for language and later "action scenes".
1. Chapter 1

Some portions of this story are very real, and really happened as described. Some are my brain bunnies. Which are which? Not telling...except some of the M is non-fiction.

Triple H walked by the first aid/medical area of the backstage and glanced in the door and kept on walking...for another three or four steps before it hit him that he knew the girl in there. He backed up.

"Charlie?", he asked.

"Hey! Yeah, hi Paul, it's me.", said the blonde, blue-eyed paramedic; "How goes? You're in better shape and spirits since the last time I saw you. Has it really been ten years?"

Charlotte Post is a local medic, who moonlights working for the company that provides event medical services to the different arenas in the San Francisco area and was in the arena at the Raw in 2001 where Triple H tore his quad, and did the initial stabilization of the injury and primary care with the ambulance. The man was pissed and and in pain and not so charming.

"wow, ten years. So much has happened to the company and we're always on the move, time gets away from you. I have always felt really badly for the way I was to you.", he said shamefacedly.

Charlie laughed at that. "You're kidding. You weren't the worst person to me THAT day, even. Don't sweat it."

The other employees that worked in medical were trickling in, so Trips headed out. "You're going to be here all show, right?", he inquired.

"I'm last to leave, kid. I don't get to go until it's just me and the night security.", she replied.

"Good. I have a meeting, but I have someone I'd like you to meet, that I think you'd like knowing.", and with that, he was gone and Charlie stood there, just noticing the slack-jawed and wide-eyed faces of her team who were clearly in awe of the Superstar who was just talking to their boss.

"Okay, gang...if we can all close our mouths, and if the girls would please stop fanning themselves and wipe the drool, perhaps we can decide how we're going to manage the drunks and bloodies and god forbid any actual emergencies that might present themselves tonight." Charlie closed the door, and gave out assignments and supplies.

During the actual event, whether it's wrestling or a concert or a team sport or (not kidding) the Dalai Lama, the injuries are few and far between. The public getting to their seats with their food and merchandise is fraught with peril in arenas like this.  
Getting out of the arena after a few beers, going from the warmth of the arena to the cold of the outside and the pushing and shoving that invaribly happens is another hairy time.

This night, things were worse than usual-the storylines were heavy at the time, and it was only a month and a half til Wrestlemania. The place was packed, and so was first aid. Charlie was still typing up all the reports when the ring was coming down and the fans that invariably try and make it backstage were still circling the doors waiting for their favorite superstar to exit when she heard a chorus of decidedly feminine squeals shouting "John!" "Cena!" get louder..and then a little louder. She rolled her eyes. She was never ever a fan girl, or a ring rat. Shaking her head, she returned to her work and was transcribing the notes from her evening when her door slammed.

She didn't even look up. The first aid staff were all young enough to be her children, technically-and they acted like it, slamming doors was a common occurrence.

"What is it going to take to keep you kids from damaging my fucking door?!", she sighed.

"oops. My bad.", said the unmistakeable voice of the franchise player, none other than John Cena.  



	2. Chapter 2

"Sorry, I'll get out of here", said John. "There are some fans out there who kind of follow me when I'm in Cali and I sign their autographs and take pictures, but this is the first time they've crossed the line into insanity."

Charlie heard the squealing from before, but this time, it was right outside her door and the intrusion kinda pissed her off a bit. Sighing, she rose from her desk, put on her very best ghetto medic face, and said "Stand here, behind the door. I'll get them out of here."

John looked skeptical. He'd seen a lot like them, and they had a lot of perseverance when they thought they were on his trail.

Pulling open the door, she stared down the one that appeared to be the leader of the pack. "When you woke up this morning, did you intend to spend the night in jail?", Charlie hissed. "Because that's where you're headed if I call the police. I don't have the time to mess around with the security detail here, I just go directly to the cops, and do you know what menacing public safety personnel while they are on duty is? No? Can you say felony? I'm WORKING IN HERE!"

She found herself staring into four sets of deer-in-the-headlights eyes. "GET OUT!", she yelled-which did the trick, the interlopers ran back the way they came, with Charlie hot on their heels to make sure they went out the door and that it was secured.

Rounding the corner back to the hallway where her office was, there was John, leaning against the doorway, trademark lopsided grin in place.

"What?" she said.

"I don't think I've ever seen that happen before, none of the Divas can ever get them to budge."

She chuckled. "Have you ever heard of 'game recognizes game'? Well, they recognized mine, and where they sit on that particular food chain. I work in Oakland. If I'm not convincingly scary now and then, I wouldn't make it."

"Would I be bugging you, if I went and got my stuff and hung out in here til you left?" he asked.

She shrugged her shoulders. "Suit yourself."

He smiled at her and offered his hand. "John Cena. Wrestler. Damsel in Distress."

"Damsel? Yeah, okay." she smiled at him and shook his hand. "Charlotte Post. Paramedic. Supergirl. All around good egg."

It was his turn to laugh. "You are SO not a Charlotte." He turned his head sideways to try and look at her ID badge.

"If you ever call me Charlotte, you and I are going to tangle. I go by Charlie, unless I'm signing something.", giving him a "I'm not BSing you" look.

"Tangle? Really? I'm going to remember that, but maybe not for the reason you think! Back in a minute."

Charlie rolled her eyes, turned back to her laptop and muttered "Boys...oy. Can't live with 'em, but vibrators aren't good enough."


	3. Chapter 3

Yeah yeah, I own nobody except for my own characters. WWE owns Raw and Smackdown, and probably all the character names.

Charlie was in the zone. Bon Jovi was on Spotify, and she banging out the paperwork, barely registering movement to her left..but she did register something.

"You're back."

"Yeah, I'm surprised you're still here, and I can't find the person I thought you should meet.", said the returning Triple H.

"Oh heya..I was expecting Cena, he said he was going grab his stuff and come hang out."

"Really? John was who I thought you should meet, I guess he took the bull by the horns, so to speak."

Charlie stopped typing, and turned to the man that she used to tune in just to see. "I'm sorry?", she said. "Bull by the horns?"

"Yeah, kinda. I'd been telling him..well more than just him, about the girl who showed up to take care of my leg and just vanished in the fog."

"I didn't vanish in the fog, I transferred care, then I left. It's what we do."

"ANYWAY", he said; "When I told the story, Cena said hey, if you ever run into her again, introduce me. Wrestling is a small world, and we get to know the arena staff everywhere.  
When I saw you this afternoon, I told John that I'd run into you in the medical area and I'd introduce you after the show. Then I couldn't find him, so I thought I'd come say good night to you and drop you my email address."

"That's quite a story, thanks for sharing", she replied with a grin. "He ran in here and shut the door when some girls were chasing him down, they got past security or something. I shooed them away."

"Ferris Bueller, you're my hero." says John, in his very best Cameron Frye voice.

"You're too young to be quoting Ferris Bueller's Day Off". says Trips. "I'm outta here. Keep in touch, Charlie?"

"Absolutely. Have a good night, we'll talk again soon I'm sure."

One of the onsite security guards pokes his head in the door. "We're closing up down here, you about done or do you need more time?"

"Nah, this is fine. I'll finish at home." Charlie shuts down her laptop and begins collecting her cords and stowing them.

"You better not be checking out my ass."

John clears his throat. WHen Charlie looks back, he's blushing. Her inside voice says "Oooh. Busted." The outside voice says "I was kidding, geez."

He laughs a little uncomfortably and says "I knew that. Really."

"C'mon, we have to go or we'll be locked in here for the night and I know you have somewhere more comfortable to be."  
"Can I walk you to your car?" he inquires. "Yeah, I don't see why not.", she replies.

The two of them walk to the secure parking area. The die-hard WWE fans were still outside the fence waiting to see if anymore Superstars were still there.

"Does this happen all the time?"

"Yup."

"That can't be fun."

"I love the fans, I really do. It makes private time really difficult, though-I'll give you that. Hey, are you hungry?"

"That's what I forgot to do today! Eat!"

"You're more of a dork than I anticipated, you know that?" he said, chuckling.

"This is not news, I swear. However, I am not going to any restaurant with you. Come to my house. Meet my dog. Watch Raw on the DVR. I'll made beef stroganoff last night,  
and apparently I thought I was cooking for 12, instead of just me."

He perked up. "Home cooking? I'll take it anytime I can get it. Let's go."

Charlie threw her laptop and medical bag into the trunk of her Mustang and waited for John to get his rental.

They were off. 


	4. Chapter 4

**It always feels so silly to put a disclaimer on stories. I do not own John Cena, or any other reference to WWE I might make. I do however own Gunnar the German Shepherd Dog.**

Charlie was looking for her housekey on the huge ring of keys, thinking how much she needed to organize it.

A voice behind her startled her. "Glasspacks?"

"Excuse me?"

"Glasspacks. On the car. You were giving off vibrations all the way up the street.", said John, who had finally unwrapped his giant frame from the rental car that was clearly too small for him.

Charlie raised an eyebrow, the only Rock-like thing she could do. "Uh-huh. Come on in." She was promptly given a crotch shot by Gunnar, her four-year-old German Shepherd who REALLY needed to go out but was eyeing John suspiciously.

"Okay, big dog. Go do your thing and come back and meet the trespasser. John, Make yourself at home. That's the remote, the bathroom is at the end of the hall, and the fridge is where you usually find one. I'm going to change."

John went into the kitchen, cracked a beer from the fridge and laughed at what he saw on the counter.

Charlie re-entered the room in sweats and a tank embossed with the name of an air ambulance, and their insider slogan: You Gotta Be Sick To Fly With US. "What's so funny in here?"

"Really? Fruity Pebbles? Did you call and get a neighbor to put this out? And you know, when girls go to slip into something more comfortable, they don't usually come back in sweatpants."

"First, I eat kiddie cereal all the time, so blow me; and second, these are Victoria's Secret sweats so they're technically still girly. And you're one to talk about what anyone wears, jorts-boy. At least I keep it inside my own house."

John eyed her, trying to figure out whether or not she was kidding. Charlie couldn't keep a straight face, despite really trying. She cracked up.

"You snort! You call me jorts-boy when you're sweats wearing girl who snorts when she laughs?" John knew when he had someone, and he had her, this time.

"Kiss my ass. Go watch tv or something, I'm going to feed my dog, and then work on feeding us."

"I thought it was a nice ass in the uniform pants, but now, just so you know, I think you have a great ass." He got away just in time to avoid the flying sponge that was coming at his head.

She let the dog in, and gave him his food. Gunnar is used to being the only man in her life and keeps an eye on the living room. "You're still the man, Guns..even if we were each other's type; neither of us is available to date. He's busy and I'm..not ready." The dog appeared to be convinced, or was just hungry. Either way, he settled into his bowl.

She threw a couple artichokes in the steamer, and put the stroganoff in the oven to warm. She turned on the water in the sink and grabbed some dish soap, grumbling at herself for not doing the breakfast dishes when a pair of arms encircled her.

She stiffened, and reacted automatically with her work brain. Not her best call that day.

Before she had a handle on what was going on, the most popular wrestler in the free world was on his back on her kitchen floor and she had the heel of her palm ready to strike his face.

"Fuck. I didn't mean to do that."

"Wow, so noted. No touching. I was really just coming in to say thank you and ask if there was something I could do to help."

Charlie offered her hand to help him up.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't hear you behind me and when someone does that when I don't know they're there, they usually have some sort of badness in mind. It happens enough at work that this reaction happens before I engage the brain. Did I hurt you?"

He took her hand and scoffed. "Woman, I'm John Cena. I don't get hurt like that. Your floor doesn't give the way a ring does though, that's for sure."

"Okay, now I feel bad. Can I get you anything, tylenol, heating pad, tequila?"

"How about we start over? Turn around." He put his arms around her from behind her again, and when he whispered low into her ear, all she noticed was how good he smelled and how much what he was saying sounded like a growl.

The timer on the steamer chose right then to ring, which pulled her right out of whatever she might have been thinking.

"What do you eat with your artichoke?"

"Uh. Whatever you're having, I don't have a lot of choke experience."

"Really? That's your double entendre choice?"

"Have a better one, blondie?"

She decided to let that one go. "No. It seems I do not. Sit. Dinner's up. Red wine, or do you need to have some protein shake or 5-hour energy or some bodybuilding nonsense?

"I'll take the wine, perhaps it'll dull some of the pain from my back meeting your floor. If not, the tannins are good for for the cardiovascular system."

Charlie pulled down two glasses while she digested the tannins comment and they sat down to eat.

"So", said John, the internet is full of my personal life, so I'm sure you know I'm divorced. How about you? Husband? Boyfriend? FB?"

"I have a hard time believing you divorced your wife because she was over-decorating the house or whatever, there had to be more to it than that."

"There was. You're avoiding the question."

"Fine. No husband. Also divorced. He's gay. No time for a boyfriend, I have a lot of stuff going on, and men who seem to think that was awesome when it starts because they don't want a clingy chick, aren't so keen on it when they find out I'm really like this. Why do you care about my Facebook?"

"Facebook?"

"Yeah, you said FB. You can look at that, it says single, I swear."

He had a look of confusion on his face...then understanding..then he laughed. Hard. "No, no, no. Fuckbuddy. Friends with benefits? One night stands?"

Charlie blushed, more for the misunderstanding than the question. She's usually much quicker on the uptake than that.

"I have fuckbuddy candidates, but I've not done anything about it in a long time. When I did, it always changed the friendship and it was never as good as it was, and I don't want to risk that again. I know it happens a lot in your business though.  
Not the friends with benefits so much, but I've seen one night stands in the making, and when I've worked several shows in a row, like the Bakersfield/San Jose/Sacto shows, I see the same wrestler with a different girl in each city, and it's not like they're pick up girls-they know them by name and they're on the door list. It just looks...I don't even have a word for it, and besides it's not my business-but my point is, I'm sure it's that way in every city. You can't really maintain a dating relationship with someone, and I get that."

He thought a minute, and nodded. "Yeah, that's the way some of them are, and I'd be lying if I said I'd never done anything like pick up a female fan and take them to my room, but..not since I decided it was time to grow up and that's when I got engaged. I haven't done it since then, so it's been awhile."

That was the start of probably the best meal Charlotte had had in years. Once they got past the questions that always seems to come first, availability and sexuality, they settled into an easy pace about things that they both enjoyed. They were both heavy volunteers for different groups, liked to sing in the car, enjoyed lively debates on politics for the sole reason of the exchange of ideas and liked the same contestant in RuPaul's Drag Race.

John poured the rest of the wine into each of their glasses and they went into the living room to relax and watch tv.

"I have a pet peeve about dishes in the sink. Let me rinse them and toss them in the dishwasher, I'll be right back." She handed John the remote to the tv and went into the kitchen for the fastest dish rinse of all time, thinking to herself "I think Paul was right, I think I just might have made a friend who gets who I am."

Charlie returned to the living room wiping her hands, to find John fast asleep on her couch with the dog laying next to him, John's hand draped on his head.

She smiled, threw her Eeyore blanket over him-which did not even come close to covering him-turned out the lights, and called her dog, who always slept at the foot of her bed.

Gunnar wagged his tail and stayed right where he was.

"Traitor."

She went to her room and set her alarm for far too early..she had a long day the next day. Several hours of her favorite volunteer job, so she was looking forward to that; and a long drive to the Arco Arena, for the Smackdown taping. She was asleep instantly.


	5. Chapter 5

John woke up to an annoying buzzing noise. He couldn't figure out where he was for a minute, but he remembered the previous evening quickly and then searched out the noise. It was an alarm clock, and it said 0830. There was a note on top of it. Once he shut the alarm off, he read the note.

"John-  
Thanks for being such good company last night. I have a hell of a day in front of me, and so I had to get out of here. Feel free to stay as long as you want, take a shower, have some breakfast.  
There are a couple of scrambled egg burritos in the fridge, pop then in the microwave for 3 minutes and they're good to go. Please let the dog in before you leave and when you head out the door, just push "arm" on the pad in the front hall, the door will lock behind you. You're welcome to hang out here anytime. -Charlie

PS-if anything comes up there before you leave, my cell # is on the whiteboard by the phone."

He thought about this woman, so unlike the ones he usually met on the road. He liked hanging out with her, but not so sure she felt the same way; she clearly put up a barrier physically. Definitely cute though. No time to give heavy thought to it, though-he had things to do. He found her number where she said it would be, and he wrote it down, he wasn't completely sure why, he just knew he wasn't NOT getting her number...and tucked the note in his wallet and set out to start his day. He had a couple of Make-a-Wish wishes to grant at a local Children's Hospital and he was due to meet up with a rep from that company and a WWE photographer.

Putting together some personal packages for the kids, with his merchandise and a handwritten note, he made sure he reviewed each case and each wish so he'd be able to give the kids his best. Then he had to drive to Smackdown. This close to Wrestlemania, he was expected to be on more than just Raw.

Charlie was in the cafeteria at Children's Hospital, the only place with open Wi-Fi, finishing up her reports from last night, and getting a last minute jolt of caffeine and sugar. She volunteered as often as she could, because no one could quite act like as much of a child as she could, and she loved to be the instigator of games that all the kids could play and enjoy, even the most sick. There were not many people around anymore that were here when her child was a patient.  
She was a fixture in the halls in those days, with a lot of other parents. When a child doesn't make it and the parents need to know they aren't alone, she's first in line to say "I was where you are. I got through it, and you will too..and here's how." Not one for platitudes and sympathy, Charlie laid down a grief plan for herself, and she shared it with anyone who needed help searching for a starting point to recovery. It's been a long while now, fifteen years, but the process is still the same.

John went and saw his first wish, a young girl who thought he was the most gorgeous man she'd ever seen. She immediately put on the sweatbands, and made her nurse and her mother promise that when her chemo session was over, she could put the shirt on. He stayed with her longer than he had planned, because he couldn't say no when this little jewel asked if he would stay until she fell asleep, and he always keeps his promises to the kids-but it made him later than he was supposed to be to see his other fan. When he got there, the boy wasn't in his room-his nurse nodded her head-and said "I did everything I could to get him to stay here because I knew you were coming, but Miss Charlotte is here, and she's got all the kids in this unit running hither and yon all over the building on a scavenger hunt. Last I heard, they had crashed the board of directors meeting to get something from them, or get them to do something."

The unit secretary came back from her break. They're all in the day room-did you hear what she did this time? She got the Chairman to sing 'I'm a Little Teapot', in the middle of a budget meeting."

The nurse chuckled. "She's crazy. Absolutely certifiable. How old is she today, anyway?" No one seemed to know, exactly.

There was an MD doing chart notes at the desk. He said "I remember her from the late 80s. She was doing her internship in the trauma center at county when I was doing my ER rotation during my residency-that was 87 or 88. Big heavy metal band hair and the darkest sense of humor I'd ever seen in someone so young. She's at least 42 or so."

The secretary was gathering plates and forks from her stash. "Do you have the cake? She turned to John. "Oh, Mr. Cena, it's Miss Charlotte's birthday and the only celebration she ever wants is that the kids do cake and ice cream, so we try and make sure we do that. I can get TJ out to see you first,though."

John shook his head. "There's no way I'm interrupting. I'd like to watch, if you can find a place for me to see them without anyone seeing me."

She nodded. "No problem. Once there's cake in the room, the kids really are only interested in getting some of it. I'll go in the front door, and you can stand at the back door and watch from there."

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY MISS CHARLOTTE!", screamed the roomful of kids, who immediately launched into something that was supposed to be Happy Birthday, but lots of them didn't know the words, so it was this tuneless loud noise with "yoooou" every few seconds.

The screaming and giggling started again, and John stood at the edge of the door and peered into the room.

There, in the middle of the floor sat his new friend, Charlie. Hardassed, sarcastic Charlie..who was starting a food fight by throwing cake at dying children, who just for a little while, forgot they were dying. It was the perfect combination of disbelief and yet complete appropriateness of what he knew about her made him laugh, and that laugh echoed throughout the room. Everyone in the room-except Charlie who had frosting in both eyes-turned to see what the noise was.

TJ, who had made him his wish, recognized him immediately, as did half the room. "JOHN CENA!" He stood up, pulled his IV pole along next to him and said "I can't believe you're here!"

The Unit Secretary who had come with towels to help clean the mess and maybe help Charlie see again said "He's here to visit you, TJ! Why don't you show him your room?"

Meanwhile, Charlie-who hadn't said a thing or even looked his direction-was frozen where she sat. She thought back to the night before, if she'd mentioned coming here today or anything about the hospital and she came up empty. He was here to see TJ, apparently-this must really be a genuine coincidence.

An hour or so later, when Charlie had done as good a job as she could at getting cake out of her hair and changing into the scrubs she was given, she went out into the 5th floor reception area, got some goodbye hugs from the kids and promises to be back next week,  
and she went and pushed the elevator button. The floor was quiet, John must have gone.

He sidled up next to her and cleared his throat. " Please don't hurt me, I'm not touching you. I haven't quite gotten over the last time I tried that. How can you leave without seeing if I was still here?"

"You were busy with some awesome kids-TJ is a favorite of mine-and you were being John Cena, WWE Superstar. I'm not going to butt into that. Doing what you do is critical-you can't believe what happens to their outlook, and consequently their healing, when someone famous like you makes time to make them a priority in your day."

"I also saw Jessie, and sat with her through most of her chemo treatment."

"Jessie's a gorgeous girl."

"She's got some incredibly aggressive tumors, I hope she has more time than what I have read about her type of cancer."

She looked at him skeptically. "Oh yeah? What did you read? And now that I think about it, how do you know what illness she has?"

"Make a Wish sends me a pretty comprehensive bio of each child that I'm going to see, so I can talk to the child about things going on in their life, what they like/dislike, things like that. When they give me the name of what's wrong with them, I look it up and educate myself a little on it in case it comes up."

"You know, Wikipedia not source material.", she said.

"How about you give me a little credit, here. I use WebMd!"

"You WHAT?" says Charlie, looking up at John, who is trying his best to look casual while the corners of his mouth twitch.

"Dammit!"

"Yes, Miss Charlotte?"

The elevator opened. She sighed and shook her head and said "Have a great rest of your day. I didn't plan on having this much clean up for myself, and I have a schedule to keep. Good to see you again, though."

She pushed the button for the first floor and gave him a smile and a wave, and the doors closed.

John and his entourage left shortly after.

The unit secretary and the nurse looked at each other, and then back at the elevators.

"wow, you could cut that chemistry with a knife."

"No kidding, and Charlie has no clue."


	6. Chapter 6

John took the drive up to Sacramento leisurely, getting drive-thru lunch because while he normally loved signing autographs and giving hugs and handshakes to his fans, his mind kept wandering to the woman he'd just met.  
He was intrigued. Intrigued enough to want to know more, certainly. She was open and upfront when he asked questions, but never proffered information and didn't ask much at all about his personal life, he did all the asking.

Sooner than he wanted, he arrived at the arena-he wasn't first, but he was plenty early. He grabbed his gear and went into the locker room, Charlie still occupying his thoughts. No sooner had he put his bags down, one of the creative team came looking for him.

"John, we have a few edits to the storyline. Nothing major, but enough that we want to replace your notes. If you give them to me, I'll bring them right back and show you the differences."

John looked in his bags, to no avail. "Oh, you know what-it's in the car, I was looking over it while I was eating lunch and I didn't put it back, give me a sec and I'll get it to you."

The writer nodded. "Thanks, I'll be in the office."

He grabbed his keys and jogged outside to the parking lot. He unlocked the door and bent down to pick up his notes. He glanced out the window before he stood back up, and there in the corner next to the wall, sat a very familiar Mustang.

Charlie sat in the security meeting, with the security leads for the arena and WWE. Also sitting in on the meeting was Triple H. Finally, everyone was satisfied with the plan for the night and stood up to go start their work. Paul tapped her on the shoulder.

"So, I don't see you for a decade and then twice in as many days? How's that work?"

She picked up her paperwork and fell in stride with him as they went backstage. "I've been at almost every show. You just don't come into medical because you have your own people, and I don't come into the talent area unless I'm specifically asked."

"Then how did you end up treating me that night?"

"I was with friends, in the audience. I saw it happen, and I saw your quad roll up like a window shade. I called backstage to the guy doing what I usually do, and told him what happened and to start the ambulance now, not to wait until the WWE docs asked for one. He asked if I'd come back and help out, so there I was."

He nodded. "So, I was lucky to get someone capable. We changed a lot of what we do as a result of that night and how you handled it. It hadn't occurred to us that WE might have an emergency."

John found the medical area and opened the door. Someone else was behind the desk. "Can I help you, Mr. Cena?"

"Is Charlie here?" he asked?

"Yup, she's here. Security team meeting. Do you need her for something?"

John thought for a moment. "No. In fact, don't even tell her I was here looking for her. I'll come back."

The show went well. Full of surprises and twists like most shows during a build up to a big pay-per-view. Right along with it were injuries occurred as a result of alcohol and not paying attention mostly, but there was a whole lot of them. Everyone was cleared out except for the last two people, who had had an altercation with each other in the entry doors and decided that they'd continue it while getting bandaged and checked out. By the time that was settled through, and all the public was out, Charlie was beat. As soon as her team was checked out, she collapsed onto the office couch with her face in the pillow.

"I seem to keep being drawn to this view of you."

Charlie turned her head toward the voice. "Huh?" she said, finding John at the door.

"I seem to find myself looking in your direction and seeing your ass first."

"What is it with you and commenting on my butt, exactly?"

"So, why didn't you tell me you were going to be here?"

Charlie blinked. "Now who's avoiding questions?"

John took off his baseball cap and ran his hand through his hair. "Can I close the door?"

Charlie got up, and moved to the desk. "Sure, if you want."

John sat down. "I need to ask you a question."

"Sure, shoot."

"Did I piss you off or something, Charlie?"

She stopped looking at her paperwork. "No. If you pissed me off, you'd be the first to know. I don't keep that in very well."

"Well okay then, your demeanor towards me was different at your house than at either show, or even today at the hospital. I'm trying to figure out what's up with that."

Charlie sighed. "Here, and to some degree when I'm doing volunteer work, I'm *working* and my focus is on that. You saw a rare moment of downtime for me, I don't have many of those. You didn't do anything. You just saw an anomaly."

"Oh I see. It's not you, it's me. Let me be more clear. I like you. When I saw you this afternoon and I realized that the Miss Charlotte everyone spoke is such glowing terms about was actually Charlie who called me jorts-boy the night before and you were sitting there on the floor covered in frosting, I don't even know what happened. First, it was damn adorable. Second, I realized when I was walking TJ back to his room, my heart was pounding for no reason at all. It had to be because you were there."

She sat a moment and thought about what John had just dropped on her.

"You don't know me. We met yesterday. I think we have potential to be friends, even good friends-but seriously-now is not the time to address this. I won't say what I'm thinking in the way I mean it."

"So say it anyway."

"Whether you know it, or do it intentionally or not; everytime I see you, you flirt and you flex and you assume your reputation precedes you. You may be Captain Popular and used to getting your requests met because you're...you. There's no way in hell I can be friends with that over the long term. I am not the only one who was different in my house."

John stood, and nodded. "I understand. I'd like to keep in touch, if that's alright with you."

"Sure, John. I'm sure I'll be right here the next time the WWE is in town."

He slipped out the door without further word. 


	7. Chapter 7

The next six weeks flew by for both John and Charlie. John was busy with all the work necessary to get ready for the biggest show of the year and Charlie continued the kind of schedule she always kept. She watched WWE tv, and tried to catch Raw live.

When John looked into the camera, it always felt personal and she got mad at herself every time it happened. She hadn't told a soul except Gunnar about the whole thing, and she was beginning to wonder if it wasn't a figment of exhaustion. He didn't call, and she didn't blame him, given how she'd left it.

Two weeks before Wrestlemania, she got a call from a member of her bowling league. His wife, who was pregnant, was having some complications in her pregnancy. "I'm going to back out of the trip to 'mania and I know you didn't buy into the group trip. I was wondering if you wanted to buy my package. It has a decent ticket to the show, a ticket to Axxess and to the Hall of Fame ceremony." I'll even discount it because I know you're going to have to pay a little more for a plane ticket, and to make it an offer you can't refuse, I will dogsit.

Charlie looked at her schedule. She could trade off some work, and had a few people who owed her favors. There was no reason to say no. She wouldn't be wandering around alone, a bunch of her bowling friends would be there. "You know what, I could do with a few days away. If you'll really watch the dog, I'll pay full price for your tickets, because I'd have to pay to board him."

"Deal. Thanks Charlie, you saved my butt." He hung up.

She logged onto a travel website, to see how far she was going to be made to bend over for a seat on a plane. Pretty far, it turns out-but honestly-she didn't care. It was time she got away. It was just money.

She checked into her hotel, dropped off her bags, and met her friends at the bar. One of the girls waved her over. "We're in the hotel that the wrestlers are staying at!" She was positively giddy about it.

Charlie was less giddy. Of course they were at the wrestlers hotel. Who wouldn't love barely dressed teens and twenty-somethings skulking around the halls and screaming when they saw someone?

"Let's go over to Axxess!", one of the other girls yanked on her husband's arm. It was about that time anyway, so they grabbed a cab and went over to the arena.

She'd relaxed considerably after a couple of hours. Her friends were goofs and she was really enjoying watching them mug for the camera and get pictures with all their favorites. When they decided to get in John's line for pictures, Charlie decided it was time for a visit to the rest room, because..how weird would that be? She didn't really want to see him next in this huge space, in front of all these people, especially how she left it with him. With a lot of time to think on it,  
she'd realized she'd a) been a bitch without reason and b) had judged him guilty of being shallow without knowing that was the case.

She stood back against the wall, and waited for the rest of the group to get done seeing him. She watched him flirt and flex and smile and took note of how his face lit up when a child came to him.

Then she heard a scream. Charlie looked over and saw an older man lying on the floor and a woman kneeling next to him, looking around frantically, yelling "Please, someone help my husband!"

She ran to the man, and asked the wife if she knew what was wrong, while making an initial assessment of the man who had in the blink of an eye turned into her patient. He did not have a heartbeat. The man's wife said he had a pacemaker and hadn't felt well this morning, but he'd promised his grandson they were coming, so they were here. Charlie looked up at the people who were surrounding the situation and caught the eye of one of her friends. She threw her bag to her and said "Purse patrol! Find me the AED, they've got to have one here. Call an ambulance." She rolled the man over and started CPR. The next 15 minutes were kind a blur. An AED arrived, and she was able to regain a heartbeat, but he still wasn't breathing so she was doing mouth-to-mouth until the ambulance came and took him away, along with his wife and grandson.  
The crowd disbursed, and Charlie was giving her contact information to the police for their report. When she finally looked up to find her friends and her purse, she heard a voice behind her "Well, well, well. This is a surprise."

"Hey there. I promise I'm not stalking you."

"If you're stalking me, you suck at stalking."

"Your public is waiting over there..SuperCena needs to sign pictures and boobs."

He laughed. "Saw that,huh?"

"Saw it hell, that's my roommate. I'm going to get to hear all about it the rest of the weekend."

"Are you coming to the show?", he asked.

"Nope. Swooped in just for the CPR practice."

"Damn you're a smart ass. Good thing I find that endearing. I'm going to lose Sunday. Don't think poorly of me."

"Hey. Just so you know. I was wrong to act the way I acted the last time we talked and I'm sorry."

He smiled and looked her directly in the eyes and said "You WILL hear from me, I promise." and then turned to his autograph table. When he finished, she was gone.

She skipped the Hall of Fame show, and stayed in her room and John Cena lost to Miz on Sunday.

Later that night, she was watching Netflix on her tablet while everyone else snored, when her phone announced that she had a new text message. She almost didn't look at it,  
because she assumed it was an advertisement, or the weather report from home, or one of the other automated texts she got regularly. She checked it, and didn't know the number it came from. It read: "did you know Atlanta is the only city in America to be destroyed by fire as an act of war?".

She texted back "yeah, I did...and who is this?"

"I told you that you'd hear from me later."

"Um, you're not narrowing it down as much as I'd like. Can I buy a vowel?"

"Seriously, Charlie..you don't know who this is? I could smear some frosting in your hair, Miss Charlotte. Then you might recollect."

"LOL. Hiya. Nice job tonight. You okay?"

"Sore, but I've certainly been worse. Where are you?"

"My hotel room?"

"I figured that. What hotel?"

"Same as you, I hear. Or at least that's what I heard in the bar yesterday, that all the wrestlers were here."

"Come hang out and watch tv? I'm wide awake and restless. Room 1410."

Charlie gave it some thought. She certainly owed him a real apology. Now was as good a time as any. "Okay. I need about 10 to get dressed and get there."

"Awesome. I'm going to get some food from room service. See you shortly."


	8. Chapter 8

Charlie stood in front of the door to room 1410-nervous, an unfamiliar feeling for her, but she put on her game face, took a breath and knocked on the door.

John opened immediately. "I wondered how long you were going to stand there."

"Well aren't you a smarty-boots. I said I'd be here."

"Can I hug you? From the front this time, I mean. Don't hurt me."

"Tell me now, am I ever going to live that down?"

"Probably not. C'mere." He folded her into his arms and put his chin on her head, murmuring, "what am I gonna do about you, hmm?"

She pulled her head back and looked up at him. "DO about me? In what way?"

They stepped apart and John said "Okay, I think talking is first."

Charlie nodded. "Me first, though."

"Ok. You first."

"I feel like I should start this with Once Upon a Time. I was always the girl that the dumb jocks played up to in school to get homework or to tutor them for the test-and they'd even try and have sex with me, because they were used to just getting whatever they wanted. No one ever stepped out of line, I'm not saying anyone forced themselves on me, but they'd have to be told no several times.

I was never asked out by any of them, I wasn't a cheerleader or popular-I was one of the smart kids. In my junior year, I overheard a bunch of the football team 'rating'the girls in school. I was about to leave, when they said my name-then I had to stay. One of the guys that I actually thought I was friends with, said 'I'd fuck her, but I wouldn't kiss her.' Then the bunch of them laughed like they'd never heard anything funnier in their lives. I left. I was mortified. To cut to the chase and make what could be a very long story a little shorter, I have judged all athletes with the same attitude as I felt then. They're all jackasses who talk shit about you behind your back and are the superhero, good guy, with a flawless public persona. No one's ever bothered to try to break that wall down til you did, and I refused to let you. All I saw was the man, the image, the creation. When you were different at my house, and then the next day I saw you had turned the whole magic personality on again, I just decided I wasn't going to be taken advantage of again by anyone claiming to want to get to know me. Hell, I have no idea why Paul thought it'd be good for us to meet. Anyway, I was wrong, and I have felt terribly about it for awhile."

John was mad. Not at her, for her. While he indulged in some similar behavior as a teen and knew guys that did even now, he never did it where the target of the discussion could hear it. Partly to save his own butt but partly because he didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings.

"Damn. That sucks. Let me start by saying apology accepted, and if I had had any idea, I wouldn't have been so direct with you, or more likely, I would have explained how I go from 'John Cena, Superstar' to John, regular guy from Massachusetts...because there is a process to it. As for how Paul got the idea, I've been a medicine nerd forever. I have always wanted to have someone to talk to about it that wasn't going to talk above me or intimidate me about it. Paul said a few years ago that if he knew how to find the girl who squared him away and told him jokes in the ambulance, she'd be a good choice. When he told me that girl was in the first aid room that night, it was all I could do not to run down there an introduce myself. Now that we've gotten some of the missing parts filled in, let me tell you what you have done to my life."

Charlie opened her mouth to object that she hadn't said anything to anyone or done anything, but before she could, John put his finger to her lips. "Shh. Still my turn."

I think about you every damn day. Some days, to the point of distraction. Don't ask me why, because I don't know why-as you correctly pointed out, I barely know you. Something happened to me. Before I met you, I would hang out with the girls who were around the shows, I didn't sleep with them, but their adoration made my ego feel good, some evenings I needed that. Now when they talk, all I hear is the vapid idiotic drivel that falls out of their mouths, and all I can think of is stroganoff, german shepherds, and RuPaul...and the woman who connects all of them in my head. It's totally fucked up, and I blame you."

She smiled at the memory. "I accept full responsibility for that odd combination of things. I'd be happy to talk medicine with you, anytime. I'm a dinosaur in terms of what I do, there's a lot of random medicine stuck up in this brain. I can tell you what's going on here as far as we're concerned though. You want to talk science and medicine? We have chemistry, a fact I missed entirely until it was pointed out to me by a nurse at Children's. I thought she was being silly, til I went home and thought about my physical reaction to you"

"You have a physical reaction? I rule."

"I'd explain it, but Tina Turner did a wonderful job of it already. Go listen to "What's Love Got To Do With It", from 83 or so. Anyway, that's all it is. No big."

He laughed. "I see. Back to your earlier remark, you're no dinosaur? No no. Vickie is a dinosaur. I know how old you are, and I couldn't care less. I have been completely unable to get you out of my head. You basically told me to go away, and I genuinely tried to. I've had your number this whole time and even though you said I could keep in touch, I was pretty sure you didn't mean it. I had no idea what I was going to do. I do now, though."

Charlie arched a brow. "What's that?"

John had been pacing the room while he was talking, but had stopped right in front of where she sat on the couch of his suite. He sat down next to her, took her face in his hands and looked at her.

"I wasn't sure I'd ever get here."

Charlie, who still had problems with serious moments, looked into his face...and crossed her eyes.

He was caught off guard and laughed at her. Then all at once, he said "Fuck it.", and kissed her, as he'd thought about a thousand times.

Charlie, who had up to this point, been inwardly proud of how cool, calm and collected she was being...completely freaked out. Her skin broke into a fine sheen of perspiration, her heart was pounding in her chest and everything around her looked and sounded like it was under water.  
She put her hands on his chest and pushed him away.

She stood and said "I gotta go." and ran out the door and into the stairwell, before John could say a thing.

He sat there a few minutes, trying to figure out if he'd missed a signal or done something stupid. He sat back on the couch and took out his phone and opened the Spotify mobile app and typed in "What's Love Got To Do With It". He listened as the song began, and turned it up so he could hear the lyrics.

"You must understand, though the touch of your hand makes me pulse react..  
It's only the thrill of boy meeting girl, opposites attract.. it's physical...only logical.  
You must try to ignore that it means more that.  
What's love got to do, got to with it? What's love, just a second hand emotion."

John looked toward the door. "I beg to differ. I'm going to figure you out, I promise you that."


	9. Chapter 9

Over the course of the next 4 months, John tries every means of contact he can to talk to Charlie. She doesn't answer her phone, or return his texts.  
He gets her email from Triple H, and she recieves them-because they don't bounce-but he doesn't know if she reads them. He has sent letters to her home, everything he can think of, short of dropping in on her or knocking on her door. He still thinks of her, but he has gotten the message. Go away. He doesn't like it, but he's going to respect her wishes.

Professionally though, he has not returned to the Bay Area. Raw will be in San Jose at the beginning of August. Maybe he'll see her there.

On Charlie's end...well, she has redefined the word "overscheduled". More work, more volunteering..she's even gone out on a few dates with guys that are more her usual type. All of this in a vain effort to forget John, which has failed utterly. She can't keep herself from watching Monday Night Raw, though-and every time John looks directly into the camera and grins that goofy lopsided grin that he has, it feels like he is looking right at her.

Nobody knows Charlie any better than Michael, her ambulance partner and best friend for the last 6 years. For a month after her return from Atlanta and Wrestlemania, he asked her daily what was up with her. She was never what anyone would term a *sweet* girl, but her comments had gone from just kinda mean to downright scathing, and fuck became her word of choice, and she used it as every part of speech. Something was WRONG. She just wouldn't talk about it until one Tuesday morning Michael finally had enough. He threatened to find a new partner. She caved. She spilled everything about everything.

"I don't see what your problem is. You haven't said a thing that sounds like he's an ass. Not like anyone you usually would be interested in, but maybe that's a good thing."

"He's touched me twice. Both times, I lost my ability to think logically and rationally. It was like my senses were being assaulted. I've never had that happen before, it's scary as fuck. I can't do that."

Michael laughed at her and looked at her incredulously. "Seriously? Dude, some people look for their entire lives and never find that. Only you would say you don't want it. At some point, you have to let go and see what happens. Losing control is not always a bad idea."

"Do you honestly see me as the kind of girl who dates guys who go to the gym constantly, makes his living flexing his muscles and fake wrestling on tv?"

"Wow. I'm kind of surprised at you. You're making a huge assumption that's all there is to the guy. You'd be pissed as hell at anyone who thought you were one trick pony like that. All anyone ever sees of you is your whole goody two shoes supergirl act. I spend 48 hours a week in close quarters with you, and it took me a year before I figured out anything different about you."

"So I don't like to cross contaminate my life and I keep the aspects separate so no one knows too much. Sue me."

"Uh-huh. Did you get your summer schedule for the concert season? Raw will be in San Jose the second Monday."

"I saw. Not going. Change the subject please."

Michael sighed, and did as she asked..but he had something spinning in that brain of his that he wasn't about to tell her.

.

.

Charlie was LATE. She hated being late. Her co-worker, scheduled to be the supervisor at the Shark Tank had been injured the prior evening and so there she was, against her better judgement, heading into the arena for Raw. She clipped her ID onto her shirt and ran in the front door, and found that the doors into the seating area weren't unlocked yet. After finding someone with a key, Charlie ran down the stairs, greeting each usher. Onto the floor, she ran around the ring and down the aisle, only to be blocked by a member of arena security who was new and didn't know who she was.

Fortunately, Triple H was coming out to the floor, and assured the man that Charlie was who she said she was. She thanked him quickly, ran to the office and shut the door so she could get everyone equipped and sent to their stations.

Trips spotted John in a hallway, talking to CM Punk about their match that night. "Hey Cena. Guess who's here?"

John looked up. "Hey Paul, who's here? What are you talking about."

Paul grinned. "Blonde, looks great in navy blue, good with a band-aid? Ringing any bells?"

John had done his best to keep himself busy and not think about what city he was in, but he couldn't help but smile.

Punk shook his head and laughed. "Man, you do have it bad-and she won't even talk to you. Fine, go see her. Just have your head in the game later, I don't have time for another injury."

John tried to jog casually in the direction of the first aid office. He peeked in. There she was..and he had no idea what to say. Fortunately, she saw him too, and she spoke first.

"I was wondering if I'd see you tonight. Do you have time to talk?"

"I have a couple of backstage shots to do and I'm in the main event. I want to talk, but I don't want to get in the middle of it and then have to go do something, especially before my match. If all I'm thinking about is you, I won't be thinking about the math."

Charlie frowned. "Math?"

John nodded. "I have to use the area of the ring, and figure out just how much energy to put into each move, so it looks believable to the audience and I don't oversell anything and most importantly, so I don't hurt Punk. It's all happening really fast out there and I have to be on top of it the whole time. I can't think about that and you."

"I had no idea."

He shrugged. "It's not like we just get in there and pretend to fight. Well, some guys do, but they don't last long. They either get hurt, or no one will work with them so they lose their roster spot."

"Well, I'm still last one out, so if you want to, come back after?"

"I'll be here...Miss Charlotte."

"I told you what happens to people who call me that without permission."

"We'd tangle, I remember. Maybe I want to tangle with you. It kinda sounds fun." He winked at her and left.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N I thought I'd have finished this story by Chapter Ten, but Charlie is a pain in my ass and has so many more issues than she did when this was just my own little mental wank. She's starting to get a clue, finally, I think..or at least finally deciding to give the attitude a little rest. I want to thank everyone for reading along!  
**

* * *

**one month earlier**

John's publicist called him early one Friday morning.

"Hey John, I was going through all the direct messages on your twitter account last night, there were a couple I kept for you to answer from fans and a couple from Make a Wish parents thanking you that I know you'll want to reply to, and there was one that was weird enough that sounded like it might be from someone you knew or about something in your personal life."

"Uh, okay", said John. "Can you read it to me?"

"It's from an account called tealmedic, and it says 'It's about Charlie, there's something you need to know, please get in touch.' and this person left an email address and a phone number."

John was glad he was alone, because he had jumped up out of his chair, ready to do something. He just wasn't sure what.

"Don't delete that, I'll take care of it." he said, while he was booting up his computer. "Thanks for the heads up, I'll definitely get all those done", he said with as much calmness in his voice as he could muster. He answered a couple more quick questions and hung up.

He logged into Twitter and read the message. Then he picked up his phone and dialed. When the man on the other end answered, he said "Hi, this is John Cena. Is Charlie okay?"

Michael said "Thanks for calling. She's not injured or anything, so in that sense she's fine. I have spent more time with her than anyone else has, and know precisely how her mind works, and she is torn up about you. She just doesn't know how to handle it, and her MO for things like that is to run away."

"Well there's not a lot I can do, I mean...I've tried. A lot."

"Yeah, I know. She finally told me everything. There are just things you don't know. She's not like other girls, and by that I mean that she has different motivations. She has the things that she finds physically attractive-and by the way, you're on that list-but a man that will show him her mind and that he's smart and can keep up with her intellectually will get her attention and keep it. She's literally the smartest person I've ever met, and she considers that a burden and not a blessing."

"Tried that. Tried talking medicine with her, and discussing some conditions that mutual friends have. Got nowhere."

"The thing at Children's? Nah, you joked with her about it and when she asked you what you knew, you didn't answer. To Charlie, when that happens, it's in her mind a redirect because you had no answer."

"Wow, she really does tell you everything. Did she tell you that her reaction to being kissed made me feel like I'd done something really bad?"

Michael cleared his throat. "She's going to kill me when she finds out I told you this. She felt out of control and like-and I quote-her senses were assaulted. She'd never had that happen before and it scared her. So, in very typical Charlie fashion, she ran. I told her how so many people never get to feel that way and only she would think it was bad. I don't think she thought it was bad though, just scary. The princess has a whole lot of castle walls up to keep everyone out. There's a drawbridge in there, though."

A lightbulb went on in John's head. So much made sense now. "I can't tell you how much I appreciate you getting in touch. Do you know if she's going to be at the show next month?"

"She's already said she had taken herself off the schedule for that, and so I'm going to be there-but you know, I think I feel a cold coming on, or perhaps an injury-she would take it if I suddenly couldn't be there and asked her to go in my place."

"If you could make that happen, I would genuinely be in your debt."

"Consider it done. She's the best friend I've ever had, to and I would do anything to see her happy. Heck, my wife thinks of her as a sister, and figured out how I could contact you."

.

Raw was almost over. Charlie was watching John's match on the monitor and now that she knew a little bit more, she was impressed at how well John and his opponent Punk worked together. After it went off the air, things got busy for her for awhile, and it was an hour and a half before she got the last person out and her people checked in and signed off for their hours.

One of the security team came in and said "Hey, could you grab a kit and come look at someone, they've got a pretty good cut and all their people have gone."

"Yeah, of course", she said...thinking that she hoped John didn't think she bailed on him.

"He's right there."

Sitting down in one of announcers chairs, was John; blood pouring out of a cut on his neck.

"What the hell did you do to get that?", said Charlie.

"Zigged when I should have zagged. Hit the actual metal turnbuckle when it was uncovered. My own fault, I was too busy mugging at the camera to see that Punk had called the shot."

"You are kind of...intense, when you look directly at it like that. People on the other side could think you were looking right at them."

"Well, sometimes, that's the point. I am."

Charlie started to clean the wound. She hadn't been this close to John in awhile and she was trying to be totally professional and was almost succeeding, until she noticed that his eyes were closed.

"Does it hurt a lot?"

"Not really." John said in a tense voice.

"Way to be convincing."

"You really want to know what's making me do that?"

"Well, yeah. I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to know. It's hard to treat something when I don't know what's wrong."

"It's you. I'm trying not to feel your hands on my skin. I know it's totally screwed up thinking because you're doing your job, but if you had any idea about what being in physical contact with you does to me..."

"Well, I might have a clue about that, actually. One of the reasons I haven't moved from where I am is that you're breathing on the back of my neck. The little hairs there are standing up. It's killing me and giving me the shivers all at the same time.

"Can we get out of here? Is your house an option?

"Yes of course, I'm sure my dog will be happy to see you. I do need to finish this so it stays closed and has a shot at healing well."

"You know, I like your dog. I'd like it if you wanted me there more."

Charlie finished taping the final bandage and smiled at him. "Let's go."


	11. Chapter 11

**Standard disclaimer. Charlie is mine. The WWE references belong to them. Finally the chick gave in and let me write her a bit of foreplay! Next chapter, she might even get laid..or at least into the pink parts. You guys are awesome for reading!**

* * *

Charlie and John sat on the couch in her living room watching Raw, after eating some leftover lasagne with another bottle of red wine.

"I don't usually get to watch the whole show, I have an assistant who tapes everything and edits my spots out of it and just drops it to me in email. This show is actually pretty decent. A little soap-opera for me, kinda."

"You know they get the chicks with the half naked lubed up boys and keep them with the drama, right?", asked Charlie.

John scoffed. "I don't get lubed up."

"Nope, but by the time you've done that whole entrance thing you do, you're sweaty and by the time your shirt comes off you're all shiny. AND you throw your accessories to women and little kids."

"How'd you get to be such an expert on what I do?"

"I have eyes. To be sure, I watch everyone-I just pay a little more attention when it's you."

He grinned at her. "Why Miss Charlotte, I blush."

She grinned, and not in a friendly fashion. "Just so you know buster, you've crossed the Charlotte line, and you're gonna get it. Only I know when or where, but retaliation is coming at you."

"Woah, woah, woah, hold up. Retaliation? I only signed up for tangling!"

"Sucks to be you, SuperCena."

He figured at this point, he might as well just go for broke. "I remember being on a couch with you a few months ago, and having it not end really well. What are the chances of my getting a do-over on that and seeing what happens?"

Charlie thought about it briefly, although she already knew the answer. Some people apparently look forever for this.

"Well, I don't want you turning your head a lot, it'll ruin all my careful bandaging."

"You can fix it again, can't you?"

"Yeah, but I don't wanna. Sit straight on the sofa like a normal person, please."

He didn't quite know what she was thinking, but he did as she asked.

The next thing he knew, she had planted herself astride him, and taken his face in her hands.

"It's not quite a do-over, but it'll have to do", she said. Then, with her pulse going a mile a minute, she kissed him-first softly, sweetly. It was full of information about what she was, but held the promise of so very much more.

The fireworks began as she trailed her tongue over his lips, requesting, and then demanding entrance as she deepened the kiss and put her arms around his neck; one hand at the back of his neck and the other in his hair, running her nails lightly down his scalp.

She peppered kisses along his jawline, stopping to nibble on his earlobe briefly and then ever so gently began sucking on his neck.

He was on fire, every nerve in his body was feeling her. He moaned softly, wrapping his arms around her waist, trying to let her guide the flow.

She moved back to his face and re-captured his lips and tongue with hers. They kissed until neither of them had any breath left. Charlie sat back and looked at him. His eyes were still closed and she couldn't quite read his facial expression. she placed her hands on his chest and softly rubbed, trying to relax him. "Are you okay?", she asked. "What's with the face?"

His eyes snapped open. "Woman, perhaps you haven't been hearing what I've been saying to you. I've thought of this moment hundreds of times over the last few months. You make me crazy just by existing. I am doing absolutely everything in my power to maintain my self-control and not strip you naked and taste and feel everything you are, and you sitting there innocently stroking my nipples is killing me. I want to touch you but I'll do anything for you not to run away again, even if I have to sit here and think about the spelling of all the state capitals and the stats for the 1977 Red Sox. I want to be crystal clear-I want you. No, I need you." He closed his eyes again.

Charlie pulled him closer, with his face between her breasts, and whispered in his ear. "Florida."

John's voice was ragged. "Excuse me?"

"Florida. What's the capital? Come on..you live there, this should be an easy one." She unbuttoned one button.

"T-Tallaha-hass-ssee." It was the most difficult word he'd ever had to say.

"That's a big word. Can you spell it?" She undid the second button. Now John could start to detect her scent.

"T-A-L-L-A-H-A-S-S-E-E...I think?"

"Aw, you don't get a button for that one. I asked you to spell 'it'. I-T."

"This is retaliation, isn't it?"

"NoooOOOOoooo. This is teasing. Retaliation is much worse."

"Oh, fuck."

"That's later on, no rushing. Do you have somewhere to be, or something?"

"No. No No No No No."

Charlie smiled and went back to playing with his nipples. She couldn't help it. They were erect and just right there asking for it. "Okay then. Hmm..what next, let me think."

John moved his hands around to the front of her ribcage, under her breasts and started to kiss and lick the skin that had been exposed to him.

Charlie gasped and went to move her hands under his shirt so she could feel his skin, and while she was lifting the hem of his t-shirt, she found herself in contact with his erection, which was poking its head out of his shorts. She couldn't help but touch it, just a little stroke trailing the moisture it was providing around the edge of the head.

John groaned and took his shirt off, tossing it onto a chair. Seeing a welcoming and admiring smile from Charlie, the relief in John's face was visible and that made her laugh.

He grabbed her and kissed her with all the built up desire of a starved man presented with a feast. He undid the rest of the buttons on her blouse and opened the clasp on the front of her bra. Intending to give her the same kind of crazy he was getting, he went to place his fingers around the tips and tease them into hardness...and ran right into a pair of nipple rings.

He broke their kiss. "Woah. I don't know quite what to do with these, but they're definitely hot as hell. I would have never guessed you to be a piercings kind of girl."

Charie nodded. "Full of surprises."

"This is a good surprise. So...what do I do with these."

She blushed. "Pull them."


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: You guys rule. Sorry for the delay, it was my work week. I was going to finish Chapter 13 and upload them together so none of you would be left hanging, but then I decided..nah. So here's 12. I'll probably be done with my final draft of 13 tonight, so maybe you'll see it. I am amazed at how many people are reading this. Thank you.**

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"Did those hurt to get and did you just say to PULL them?", John asked, moving the rings around and licking the tips of her now erect nipples.

"Yes..and yes. They hurt, that was part of the point of having them, the other part was to make them sensitive...before, it didn't really matter what happened to them, the poor things could not have cared less."

"And since?", he said while he nibbled on Charlie's neck.

"Well, how about you see for yourself?" , she replied; taking his enormous hands in her small ones and placing each of his thumbs and forefingers around her rings and helping him extend them outwardly with the pressure she liked.

"Yessss", Charlie hissed. "Oh, yes." Her breathing increased as she began to sway her hips, lightly grinding herself in John's lap.

John mumbled to her, or at least she thought he did. The rushing sounds in her ears did not help her hearing at all, and she was more than a little distracted by his hands.

"Huh?" They made eye contact and her need for him was evident and he loved it.

"I said We. Need. A. Bed. Like now."

"Oh.", Charlie said breathlessly, with just a hint of a grin. "You know, I have one of those around here somewhere." She looked around. "Where did I put the bed...?"

"Okay, smartass; two can play this retaliation game, you know.."

"That's not really a two player game for me...okay, lets go upstairs."

John grabbed her ass and picked her up from where they were sitting. Charlie wrapped her legs around his waist and started to thrust her pelvis where she could feel his cock underneath her.

"Unless you want me to stop and fuck you right here on the steps, you need to stop doing that. My self control is hanging by a thread, I swear to God Charlie. I haven't cum in my pants since I was 15 and I have no plans for our first time together to end with me wiping myself up and trying to clean my underwear in your bathroom."

He stepped onto the second floor landing. "Which room?"

"End of the hall", Charlie whispered in his ear, after which she resumed tracing the edge of the lobe lightly with her tongue.

John found the door and opened it. The centerpiece of the room was a king sized sleigh bed, inctricately carved and very beautiful, and he made a mental note to take a closer look at it when he was less distracted.

He dropped her on the bed, and began to undress her. Charlie laughed as he looked confusedly at her work boots. "The laces don't seem to do anything."

"You give up so easily." She unzipped her boots from the tab poking out from the inside.

He slid it from her foot and it fell to the floor with a thud that only steel-toed boots have.

"Remind me to take those off of you before I pick you up next time, those are twenty pounds I don't need." He set to work on her pants and as he pulled them down he discovered a pair of frilly panties and lacy bobby socks covering her feet. "You are killing me, do you know that? Everytime I think I've got a handle on you, I get another smack in the head telling me that I don't know a thing...but I'm going to find out the rest, starting now."

She licked her lips and grinned at him. "So um...do you want my life story right now? Okay then; once upon a time...in this very month, in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge, a long time ago, a girl was born. She..."

Charlie trailed off. John had quietly parted her legs, moved his head down and had begun licking and nibbling the skin on her inner thigh.

The closer he got to her junction, the more the scent of her overwhelmed his senses. He placed a finger on the fabric covering her and was surprised to find it completely saturated. "Wow. You're um..", John struggled to find the right word and not sound silly.

"The word is wet, John. I'm wet. Also, horny. Either or both of those work." Charlie grinned at him. "You know, if people knew how shy and tongue tied you were, the university that issued your Doctor of Thuganomics degree might take it back. I'm pretty sure that "Scamming Chicks" is core curriculum."

John looked at her with a serious face that took the smile from hers.

"If you were just a chick, I wouldn't have a problem. I have the lines down pat, the problem here is you. You make me think differently, want other things. Pick your awesome ass up off the bed for a second."

John dispensed with the only item of clothing she had left, and she lay in the bed, naked and looking up at him. He continued his assault on her thighs, well aware he was leaving teeth marks, feeling territorial. He reached her pussy and realized it was hairless-well, more five o'clock shadow than clean shaved, and he touched her for the first time. He ran his finger up her labia and over her clit. Her button was full and swollen and begging for attention and how could he say no? He wrapped his lips around it and applied some pressure with his tongue.

"Holy shit, John..." For her part, Charlie was clawing the bed sheets and moaning softly. As she began thrusting herself into his face, he took the hint and began laving her in earnest. He placed one, then two fingers inside her and stroked her g-spot, encouraging her along with his hands and mouth.

She started to moan louder and she grabbed a pillow and put it over her face to muffle her sounds. John took it from her and tossed it aside. He removed his tongue from her long enough to explain. "No. I want to hear you, and I want to see your face, when you cum. When I make you cum."

As he put his tongue back on her clit, she began to twitch and grabbed him by the hair and held his head right where she needed him to be. "Oh God, yes. Lick it. Just like that...don't stop, oh god, I'm going to cum...yes..oh John, so good, oh yes...oooohhhhh.." Her face flushed and she came undone, keening loudly, trumpeting his success.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: I know this one is shorter, but this point seemed like a good stopping point. More to come, certainly. I would never leave John hanging like that.**

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She released his head as her orgasm subsided and she came back down to earth. "Sorry about that, I didn't mean to make fingernail marks in your scalp like that."

"Are you kidding me? That was awesome, every second of it." John laid down on the bed next to her.

Charlie studied John with a frown. "Something isn't right, here."

"I was under the impression that things were..decent." John looked at her with concern.

"I know what it is! You, my friend...are WAY overdressed."

"Planning to do something about that, are you?"

"Immediately, if not sooner."

Charlie sat up and removed two of the largest tennis shoes shoes she'd ever seen from John's feet. Her fingers traced the path from his wide expanse of chest, into the valley between his abdominal muscles and lingered at the top of his beltline. She looked at his face, and into his eyes. As she held his gaze, she undid his belt and the button on his shorts, and undid the zipper with tantalizing slowness as she licked her lips. As she opened the fly, her hand brushed against his cock and she gently took hold of it still covered by his boxers and squeezed softly. It was John's turn to moan. As Charlie moved so that she could take his shorts from him, she lowered her head and licked the top of him,  
which was still peeking out of the top of what still covered him.

"Salty,", she said.

"I know I've said this before, but you're killing me. I can literally feel myself slipping away."

"Well, there ARE perks to having your own personal paramedic, you know. One of them is that I can fix that." she said giggling.

"Oh, I know you have mad...skills.." said John, as she removed his underwear and freed his cock to stand tall, and if Charlie had any lingering thoughts that maybe he was not into her, they were rendered moot because it was plain as day, he was very, very into her.

She took him into her hand and felt the soft skin and the veins underneath them. She took his balls into her other hand and gently squeezed them.

John sucked air through his teeth. "Damn. Just your touch is almost too much. I don't know how long I can hold on."

"Pretty much as long as I want you to, I suspect."

"I don't think I'd bet on that if I were you."

"We shall see, won't we?", grinned Charlie. She opened her mouth and took John's cock into it, and sucked it twice.

John came up off the bed, panting. "Oh fuck-goddammit!"

She pushed him back down with one hand. "This is my time. I get your body now."

Charlie put her hand back on his well lubed cock and stroked gently, licking his sac and sucking his balls into her mouth, one at a time. John moaned and cried out, "Yes..oh god..Charlie, fuck..."

"California."

John, who'd been gritting his teeth and trying very hard not to end the evening early, was both grateful and unhappy about the distraction, tried to pay attention. "What about it?" he panted.

"Do we need to go downstairs and start this over?"

His eyes flew open. "What? Hell no. What's the question, tell me again."

"The capitol. I even gave you an easy one, considering the circumstances!" She began once again to stroke him.

"We're going there tomorrow, I know that..."

"Who's this we, Kemosabe? I don't work Sacto shows usually. Last time was a fluke."

"HA! Sacramento. I knew you'd tell me if I worked you a little." John was almost gleeful.

Charlie grinned, not completely kindly..and went back to sucking his cock. John reached out, looking to touch her, any part of her. The only thing he could reach was a splay of her hair, fanning out around her and he wound his fingers in it, "Oh, Charlie..." he panted heavily.."I'm going to cum, please let me..oh yes..."

...and she stopped, and sat up.

John was shaking, and the tension in his body was not going away, but it was clear he was not going to finish right then.

"Why? "What did I do..or didn't do?", he thought to himself as he finally was relaxed enough to open his eyes. He opened them and saw Charlie fingering herself. "Oh my god."

"See something you want, by chance?". She put her fingers in her mouth, tasting her own juice.

"I'm very one-track minded right now and that starts and ends with you, and how much I need to be inside you."

"Better catch me then!". She jumped off the bed and ran out of the room.

John let out a very primal growl and took off after her.


	14. Chapter 14

**I haven't decided whether or not this is it, yet. I'm sure I'll find out, Charlie always seems to get her way when she wants to express herself. **

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John got to the top of the stairs and stopped. He felt the need to gut check himself, because he's never had anything this...different?...unusual? -no, this was just plain odd-happen before. Women he wants either tell him no right away or they can't wait to have sex and he's the one telling them to slow down. They don't make him chase them around their house while they're naked. He turned back to the bedroom until he heard a giggling noise from the lower floor.

"Psst! Hey! You play a lousy game of chase, has anyone ever told you that?" Charlie giggled again.

He couldn't help but smile. "You're sure about this? When I catch you, you're going to wish you had stayed put. Payback is most certainly a bitch..."

"ooooOOOoooo...promise?", she sighed.

His cock twitched at the sounds she was making to tease him. Game on, apparently. "No going outside!" he called out.

Her retreating laugh was all he heard as he took the steps two at a time to reach the bottom before she vanished. He didn't make it.

A door slammed in an area of the house he had not been to yet. Peering out the windows to make sure she hadn't cheated and gone into the yard, he heard footsteps above him.

"How the fuck did she get up there?" he thought, until he came upon a small elevator in the back. A sheet of paper lay on the floor. He picked it up, and saw that it read "Why are you looking all the way back here? I'm not here."

John decided he was going to have to out-think her, because Charlie clearly has the upper hand.

He made some noise opening room and closet doors and slamming them shut. He tiptoed back upstairs, and making no noise at all, entered a bathroom and stood in the tub, hidden behind the shower curtain. He decided to wait.

In not too long a time, Charlie's curiosity got the better of her and she decided to change hiding places. After making sure he was nowhere to be seen, she quietly sequestered herself in a linen closet, located next door to the bathroom where John was...and he saw her.

John emerged from the tub and stood in front of the door where he knew she was. Deciding on his plan of action, he took a deep breath. In one motion, he opened the door and grabbed her around the waist.

Taken completely by surprise, Charlie shrieked.

Hoisting her over his shoulders in the F-U position, he held her with one arm and covered her mouth with the other hand. "You better hush, or your neighbors are going to call the cops."

He carried her back to her room and dumped her on the bed and threw himself onto her so she didn't get away.

"Okay, how'd you find me so fast? I play the best hide and seek EVER.", she grumped.

"Here's the thing...when you've had as long to think about something, and someone, and what you want as I have with you...let's just say a man learns patience. I was patient, and you came to me. Once I figured that part out, you were done."

"I'm done, huh? This is payback?"

"Maybe. Not sure yet. I'll let you stew on that for a bit. First, I am claiming my prize. I won. I get you." He leaned down to kiss her and she complied eagerly, offering her mouth to his. He licked and sucked her neck, squeezing her breasts and, because he couldn't help it, pulling on her jewelry which just made her moan and writhe beneath him. He could feel the heat coming off her sex and he touched it, sliding one finger inside her and crooking it in the "come here" motion until she was panting and crying out to him. He could feel her start to tremble around his hand and he whispered to her.

"You want to cum, babe? Tell me. Tell me what you want."

Charlie could barely make sense to herself, let alone try to make any to him. "Please, John..please. Let me cum...I'm so close..oh god, please.."

It was John's turn to stop. "Nah, not right now. Maybe later." He hoped she was not in a position to see just how obvious his want for her was. He couldn't remember ever having so insistent an erection, or one that leaked so much pre-cum. He wasn't so sure how much longer he could wait...hopefully he wouldn't have to for long.

Charlie punched the mattress and howled in abject frustration. He felt kind of bad, but not TOO bad, considering he knew she'd figured out that she was getting some of her payback because she hadn't said a word in objection.

He inserted a second finger and just left them still inside her. God she was wet. He was deciding on his next move when she, without even really being aware of it, started to hump his hand.

"You are one horny little girl. Whatever am I going to do with you?" John hoped his words sounded relaxed and not anxious, because he was anything but.

"I was kind of thinking you might remove your fingers, and put your cock in me? If that works for you, that is.."

He looked at her. The familiar glint was back in her eyes, and he realized she was clear-headed again and ready to take this ride with him.

"This is so awkward, but we never talked protection..."

She smiled. "As far as BC is concerned, I've got an IUD. Disease wise, you are tested constantly, as am I. If we were exposed to anything catchy, we'd know it. Right?"

"You already thought of this, I'm guessing."

She shrugged one shoulder. "It's what I do.".

"Well then, this is what *I* do." John rose to his knees above her, and placed himself at her opening and applied just enough pressure to part her lower lips and push past the entrance. He lingered there and looked at her face. He would do every second of every moment it took to get here with her over again, if it guaranteed that she'd look at him forever the way she's looking at him now. She lifted her hips so he'd slide into her further and he met her halfway. Together, they sheathed him inside her. Charlie drew in a quick breath and wrapped her legs around his back. John was still, so she could relax into his girth and so he could savor the feeling of being inside her, her involuntary muscle twitching and her insane heat. Slowly, he began to move and she rotated her hips underneath him in response. Quicker and quicker they went, each trying their hardest to make the other moan or sigh or growl with joy.

Charlie was reaching her peak first. "Oh yes..just like that. Harder. Fuck me harder. Oh god, John..I'm going to cum...oh yea, oh oh oooooohhh, John..", she cried out to him while her muscles contracted around him and her body trembled beneath him.

John had no hope of holding on after that. "Fuck, Charlie.." he grunted and groaned as he hit the very back of her pussy walls over and over, "I can't stop, I'm going to cum.."

"Cum inside me John, I want it. Right now. Please..give it to me.."

That was it..he was done. He made sounds like she'd never heard, like words that couldn't quite get made as he slammed into her one more time and emptied his loins into her and as she watched him, she could see that he was soundlessly saying her name over and over.

As he eased himself from her and lay down, he took her in his arms and held her like a prized possession as he covered them both with the blanket and they fell asleep sated and content..they'd worry about what to do about tomorrow when it got here.


End file.
